Restaurant Critic Highlights Another Good Reason for Shedding Anonymity

Minneapolis Star Tribune's Rick Nelson confirms just how few people he was fooling.

In a video-interview reveal at the beginning of the week with Vineeta Sawkar, Minneapolis Star Tribune restaurant critic Rick Nelson (pictured) suggested that the age-old practice of people in his profession trying to remain anonymous had become “silly” and “a charade.” Today, in a separate Q&A with taste editor Lee Svitak Dean, he confirms just how futile the effort was:

”I recently asked a chef if he could estimate the percentage of local chefs who don’t recognize me. He just laughed and said, ‘One.'”

Ha ha. That chef was probably exaggerating, but imagine for a moment if-and-when Nelson now crosses paths with a Twin Cities knew-it-not. At the very least, it could make for a fun article.

In the video, Nelson added that one of the big pluses of being out as a restaurant critic is that he can now attend events sponsored by the paper and meet readers. Such an event is taking place at the paper’s offices over lunch tomorrow.

Nelson’s first-person essay, about the biggest move for him at the paper since joining the Star Tribune in 1999, is a fun read. It ends with a pledge that made us cheer: